Cooking apparatus and method for controlling thereof

ABSTRACT

A cooking apparatus is provided. The cooking apparatus acquires input of a plurality of power supplies of different phases. The cooking apparatus includes a plurality of heating coils including a first heating coil and a second heating coil, a plurality of inverters including a first inverter and a second inverter, and a switching circuit configured to selectively provide power from among a first power or a second power supply to at least one of the first inverter or the second inverter.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of a Korean patent application number 10-2018-0072983, filed onJun. 25, 2018, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, thedisclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The disclosure relates to a cooking apparatus and a method forcontrolling thereof. More particularly, the disclosure relates to acooking apparatus which is capable of selectively providing a pluralityof power of different phases to a heating coil, and a method forcontrolling thereof.

2. Description of Related Art

A cooking apparatus is a device used for cooking food, and can be heatedusing electromagnetic signals (e.g., microwave ovens), conduction, andinduction. In recent years, an induction cooking apparatus has been usedinstead of a gas apparatus.

Meanwhile, an induction cooking apparatus may be implemented to includea plurality of burners to satisfy user needs to cook various foods atonce. However, a maximum output that can be implemented by a power inputto a cooking apparatus is limited and thus, when a plurality of burnersare simultaneously used, there is a problem that the cooking performanceis deteriorated due to limited power output.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the disclosure. No determination hasbeen made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the disclosure.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the disclosure are to address at least the above-mentionedproblems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantagesdescribed below. Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to providea cooking apparatus which is capable of selectively providing aplurality of power supplies of different phases to a heating coil, and amethod for controlling thereof.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the presented embodiments.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a cooking apparatusacquiring input of a plurality of power supplies of different phases isprovided. The cooking apparatus includes a plurality of heating coils, aplurality of inverters configured to individually provide a drivingpower supply to each of the plurality of heating coils, and a switchingcircuit configured to selectively provide a first power supply or asecond power supply from among a plurality of power supplies to at leastone inverter from among the plurality of inverters.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method forcontrolling of a cooking apparatus acquiring input of a plurality ofpower supplies of different phases is provided. The method forcontrolling includes identifying a power supply to be provided to aplurality of inverters individually providing a driving power supply toeach of a plurality of heating coils, providing the identified powersupply to each of the plurality of inverters, and generating a drivingpower supply to each of the plurality of inverters, and providing thegenerated driving power supply to each of the plurality of heatingcoils.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a cookingapparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a cookingapparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a cookingapparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example cooking apparatus includinga plurality of burners according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of the example cooking apparatus in FIG. 4according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is another circuit diagram of the example cooking apparatus inFIG. 4 according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling of a cookingapparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for identifying a powersupply according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

The same reference numerals are used to represent the same elementsthroughout the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of variousembodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the various embodiments describedherein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thedisclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions andconstructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of thedisclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of various embodiments of thedisclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for thepurpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims andtheir equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

In this specification, the terms “comprise”, “include”, “have”, and thelike are intended to specify that there are stated features, numbers,steps, operations, elements, parts or combinations thereof, and shouldnot be construed to preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts, orcombinations.

Hereinafter, the disclosure will be described in detail with referenceto the accompanying drawings.

As used herein, the term “cooking apparatus” refers to an apparatus thatheats, reheats, or cools food using a heat source such as gas,electricity, or steam. This cooking apparatus may include, for example,a gas range, a microwave oven, an oven, a toaster, a coffee machine, agrill, or an induction cooking apparatus.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a cookingapparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, a cooking apparatus 100 may include a switchingcircuit 110, a plurality of inverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3, aplurality of heating coils 130-1, 130-2 and 130-3, and a plurality ofpower supplies 140-1 and 140-2.

The cooking apparatus 100 may be connected to power source havingdifferent phases. For example, the cooking apparatus 100 may acquire apower supply via a Y-line alternating current power supply including avoltage line L and a neutral line N, and a plurality of power suppliesmay include a first power supply and a second power supply. For example,a first power including a 0° phase of a three-phase power supply and asecond power including a phase of 120° or 240° of a three-phase powersupply may be included.

Here, a voltage line L denotes a line with a unique phase and voltagevalue, and a neutral line N denotes a line connected to a neutral pointwhere each phase is commonly connected.

The switching circuit 110 may selectively provide power from a pluralityof power supplies to the plurality of inverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3,respectively. For example, the switching circuit 110 may be disposedbetween the plurality of power supplies 140-1 and 140-2 and theplurality of inverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3, and selectively connect apower supply to the respective inverters.

For example, when it is identified that the first inverter 120-1 and thesecond inverter 120-2 are connected to the first power supply 140-1 andthat the third inverter 120-3 is connected to the second power supply140-2, the switching circuit 110 may provide power from the first powersupply 140-1 to the first inverter 120-1 and the second inverter 120-2,and provide power from the second power supply 140-2 to the thirdinverter 120-3.

The switching circuit 110 may be disposed on a single substrate alongwith the plurality of inverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3. In addition, theswitching circuit 110 may be, when each of the plurality of inverters120-1, 120-2 and 120-3 are spaced apart from each other on a pluralityof first substrates, disposed on a separate second substrate which isspaced apart from the plurality of first substrates. When the cookingapparatus 100 is designed, such a separation structure may flexibly copewith both a case of using the switching circuit 110 and a case of notusing the switching circuit 110.

The plurality of inverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3 may individuallyprovide a driving power to each of the plurality of heating coils 130-1,130-2 and 130-3. For example, each of the plurality of inverters mayreceive a power supply input and provide a driving power correspondingto an output level to the respective heating coils based on a userinput.

For example, the first inverter 120-1 may provide a first driving powercorresponding to an output level with respect to the first heating coil130-1, and provide the provided first driving power to the first heatingcoil 130-1. In addition, the second inverter 120-2 may provide a seconddriving power corresponding to an output level with respect to thesecond heating coil 130-2, and provide the second driving power to thesecond heating coil 130-2.

In addition, the third inverter 120-3 may provide a third driving powercorresponding to an output level with respect to the third heating coil130-3.

The plurality of heating coils 130-1, 130-2 and 130-3 may perform aheating operation based on the driving power. Such a heating coil may bea heating element (i.e., a resistive heating coil that conducts heat),an induction heating coil, or the like. For example, when the heatingcoil is a resistive heating element, heat may be directly radiated basedon a driving power. When the heating coil is an induction heating coil,a cooking container on a burner may be heated using an inductioncurrent.

Here, in a cooking apparatus using an induction heating coil, when analternating current is provided to the induction heating coil, amagnetic field may be induced. In this case, the induced magnetic fieldmay pass into a bottom surface of the cooking container, an eddycurrent, which is a rotating current, may be generated on the bottomsurface, and due to the generated eddy current, the bottom surface ofthe cooking container may be heated.

In FIG. 1, two power supplies are input to the cooking apparatus 100.

However, three or more power supplies may be input. Referring to FIG. 1,three inverters and three heating coils are included. However, in anexample implementation, the cooking apparatus 100 may include only twoinverters and two heating coils, and may include four or more invertersand four or more heating coils. In addition, in the example describedabove, the number of inverters and the number of heating coils are thesame. However, in an example implementation, one inverter may provide adriving current to a plurality of heating coils.

Meanwhile, although the above illustrates and describes only the briefconfiguration of the cooking apparatus 100, various elements may beadditionally included as described below with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a cookingapparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, a cooking apparatus 100 may include a switchingcircuit 110, a plurality of inverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3, aplurality of heating coils 130-1, 130-2 and 130-3, a plurality of powersupplies 140-1 and 140-2, an input apparatus 150, and a processor 160.

The operations of the switching circuit 110, the plurality of inverters120-1, 120-2 and 120-3, the plurality of heating coils 130-1, 130-2 and130-3 and the plurality of power supplies 140-1 and 140-2 have beendescribed above in connection with the operations of FIG. 1, and thusdetailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

The input apparatus 150 may acquire, from the user, a command togenerate heat from one of the plurality of heating coils 130-1, 130-2and 130-3. Here, the command controls a heating coil to perform aturn-on/turn-off operation (i.e. pulse width modulation), or to selectan output level and control a heating coil to be heated to thecorresponding heating level. Such an output level may be in such a formthat a directly corresponding value (for example, 1, 2, 3 or 4) is inputor that a relative change value (for example, +1/−1) is input.

This input apparatus 150 may be implemented as a plurality of physicalbuttons or switches, etc., and may be implemented as a touch screencapable of simultaneously performing a display function displaying anoperation state, etc.

The processor 160 may control each element in the cooking apparatus. Forexample, the processor 160 may, when a command for the respectiveheating coils is input through the input apparatus 150, control theswitching circuit and the plurality of inverters so that a heating coilcorresponding the command is operated.

For example, the processor 160 may control the plurality of inverters120-1, 120-2 and 120-3 to supply a driving power based on the commandprovided to each of the plurality of heating coils 130-1, 130-2 and130-3.

For example, the processor 160 may, when a command to request a heatamount of level “2” with respect to the first heating coil 130-1 isinput, control the first inverter 120-1 to provide a first driving powercorresponding to “2” to the first heating coil 130-1, and when a usercommand to request a heat amount of level “3” with respect to the secondheating coil 130-2 is input, control the second inverter 120-2 toprovide a second driving power corresponding to the second heating coil130-2.

In addition, the processor 160 may, when a command to request heatamount of level “1” with respect to the third heating coil 130-1 isinput, control the third inverter 120-3 to provide a third driving powercorresponding to “1” to the third heating coil 130-3.

Meanwhile, the processor 160 may, before controlling the switchingcircuit 110 to supply power to the plurality of inverters 120-1, 120-2and 120-3, identify a power supply to provide power to the plurality ofinverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3 from among the plurality of powersupplies 140-1 and 140-2.

For example, the processor 160 may calculate a power consumption of eachof the plurality of heating coils 130-1, 130-2 and 130-3, and based onthe power consumption, identify a power supply to be provided to theplurality of inverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3 from among the first powersupply 140-1 or the second power supply 140-2.

For example, the processor 160 may, when a power consumption of thefirst heating coil 130-1 is 3 kW, a power consumption of the secondheating coil 130-2 is 1.2 kW, and a power consumption of the thirdheating coil 130-3 is 0.8 kW, identify that the first power supply 140-1is provided to the first inverter 120-1 and that the second power supply140-2 is provided to both the second inverter 120-2 and the thirdinverter 120-3.

In addition, when a power consumption of the first heating coil 130-1 is1 kW, a power consumption of the second heating coil 130-2 and the thirdheating coil 130-3 is 0 kW, and a command with respect to the secondheating coil 130-2 is input to increase the power consumption of thesecond heating coil 130-2 to 1 kW, the processor 160 may identify thatthe remaining power other than the power supplied to the first inverter120-1 is supplied to the second inverter 120-2.

The processor 160 may compare a power consumed by the first heating coil130-1 with a power consumed by the third heating coil 130-3 and identifywhich heating coil uses less power, and identify that a power suppliedto an inverter corresponding to the corresponding heating coil issupplied to the second inverter 120-2 corresponding to the secondheating coil 130-2.

For example, when a power consumption of the first heating coil 130-1 is230 V×13 A=2990 W and a power consumption of the third heating coil130-3 is 230 V×3 A=690 W, the processor 160 may identify that the secondpower supply 140-2 to supply power to the third heating coil 130-3,which is consuming less power (690 W) than is provided to the secondinverter 120-2.

In contrast, when a power consumption of the first heating coil 130-1 is230 V×3 A=690 W and a power consumption of the third heating coil 130-3is 230 V×13 A=2990 W, the processor 160 may identify that the firstpower supply 140-1 to supply power to the first heating coil 130-1,which is consuming less power (690 W) than is provided to the secondinverter 120-2.

Meanwhile, the processor 160 may, when a command of the first heatingcoil 130-1 or the third heating coil 130-3 is changed and a heating coilconsuming less power is changed, identify that a power supply to providepower to an inverter corresponding to the changed heating coil isprovided to the second inverter 120-2.

For example, when a power consumption of the first heating coil 130-1 is230 V×3 A=690 W and a power consumption of the third heating coil 130-3is 230 V×13 A=2990 W, but a command with respect to the first heatingcoil 130-1 is changed and the power consumption is increased to 230 V×15A=3450 W, the processor 160 may identify that the second power supply140-2 to supply the power to the third heating coil 130-3, which isconsuming less power (2990 W) than is supplied to the second inverter120-2.

That is, as described above, the processor 160 may, with respect to acommand for the respective heating coils, rather than providing a fixedpower supply to the inverters respectively corresponding to the heatingcoils and controlling a driving power supply corresponding to the usecommand to be supplied, identify that a plurality of power supplies areselectively provided to the respective inverters based on the commandfor the respective heating coils and a power consumption so that arequired driving power is fully provided to each heating coil.

The processor 160 may, when a power to be provided to the plurality ofinverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3 is identified as described above,control the switching circuit 110 so that a power is provided to theplurality of inverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3 as identified.

For example, when the processor 160 identifies that the first powersupply 140-1 is provided to the first inverter 120-1 and the secondinverter 120-2 and that the second power supply 140-2 is provided to thethird inverter 120-3, the switching circuit 110 may be controlled toprovide the first power supply 140-1 to the first inverter 120-1 and thesecond inverter 120-2, and to provide the second power supply 140-2 tothe third inverter 120-3.

The processor 160 may, when the heating coil consuming less powerdescribed above is changed and a power to be provided to the secondinverter 120-2 changes, control the switching circuit 110 to disconnecta previous power supply provided to the second inverter 120-2, and thento connect a power supply to the second inverter 120-2.

For example, the processor 160 may, when a power supply provided to thesecond inverter 120-2 is changed from the first power supply 140-1 tothe second power supply 140-2, control the switching circuit 110 todisconnect the first power supply 140-1, and then to connect the secondpower supply 140-2 to the second inverter 120-2.

In addition, the processor 160 may control the switching circuit 110 todisconnect a previous power supply provided to the second inverter120-2, and then, after a preset time elapses, to connect a power supplyto the second inverter 120-2.

Here, a preset time may correspond to a discharge time of a capacitorwithin an apparatus due to a switching operation, which may beidentified based on experimentation.

For example, the processor 160 may control the switching circuit 110disconnect the first power supply 140-1 from the second inverter 120-2,and after a time of approximately 15 ms elapses, connect the secondpower supply 140-2 to the second inverter 120-2.

In FIG. 2, two power supplies are input. However, in an exampleimplementation, all three power supplies may be input and in this case,the processor 160 may identify that the three power supplies aredynamically provided to the respective inverters.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, only general functions of the cookingapparatus 100 are described. However, in addition to the elementsdescribed above, the cooking apparatus 100 may further include acommunication apparatus capable of being connected to a network via awire or wirelessly according to a function supported by the cookingapparatus 100, and communicating with an external apparatus and theserver, a memory capable of storing data and programs necessary forcontrolling the cooking apparatus 100, and the like.

In the related art, each heating coil uses a fixed power supply andthus, it is difficult to provide power supply efficiently when aplurality of burners are simultaneously used. For example, when thefirst heating coil 130-1 and the second heating coil 130-2 arestatically connected to the first power supply 140-1 and that the thirdheating coil 130-3 is statically connected to the second power supply140-2, there is a problem in that only the first power supply 140-1 isused when only the first heating coil 130-1 and the second heating coil130-2 are simultaneously operated. In this example, if a strong outputis required for simultaneous operation, that the second power supply140-2 cannot be used even though the second power supply 140-2 ispresent. Thus, the power supply cannot be efficiently used.

However, as described above, in the disclosure, the processor 160 maycontrol the switching circuit 110 to selectively provide a power supplyor to change a power supply to be provided, so that the power supply maybe dynamically allocated. Thus, there is an advantageous effect that theperformance of a cooking function can be enhanced even if a plurality ofburners are simultaneously used.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a cookingapparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, a cooking apparatus 100′ is provided to explain anexample in which the first inverter 120-1 and the third inverter 120-3fixedly use (i.e., statically connected to) the first power supply 140-1and the second power supply 140-2, respectively, and the second inverter120-2 selectively uses the first power supply 140-1 or the second powersupply 140-2.

The cooking apparatus 100′ may include a switching circuit 110′, aplurality of inverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3, a plurality of heatingcoils 130-1, 130-2 and 130-3, a plurality of power supplies 140-1 and140-2, an input apparatus 150, and a processor 160.

Operations of the plurality of inverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3, theplurality of heating coils 130-1, 130-2 and 130-3, the plurality ofpower supplies 140-1 and 140-2 and the input apparatus 150 have beendescribed above in connection with the operations of FIG. 1, and thusdetailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

The switching circuit 110′ may selectively connect the first powersupply 140-1 or the second power supply 140-2 to the second inverter120-2. For example, the switching circuit 110′ may selectively connectthe first power supply 140-1 or the second power supply 140-2 to thesecond inverter 120-2 under the control of the processor 160. To thisend, the switching circuit 110′ may include two switches and may providea power supply through an open and close operation of a switchingswitch.

For example, the switching circuit 110′ may, when a switching circuitbetween the first power supply 140-1 and the second inverter 120-2 isclosed and a switching circuit between the second power supply 140-2 andthe second inverter 120-2 is opened, connect the first power supply140-1 to the second inverter 120-2, and when the switching circuitbetween the second power supply 140-2 and the second inverter 120-2 isclosed and the switching circuit between the first power supply 140-1and the second inverter 140-2 is opened, connect the second power supply140-2 to the second inverter 120-2.

The switching circuit 110′ may be disposed on one printed circuitsubstrate along with the second inverter 120-2. In addition, theswitching circuit 110′ may be disposed on a second substrate, which isspaced apart from a first substrate. Such a separation structure mayflexibly cope with both a case of using the switching circuit 110′ and acase of not using the switching circuit 110′ when the cooking apparatus100′ is designed.

The processor 160 may identify a power supply to be connected to thesecond inverter 120-2 because the first inverter 120-1 and the thirdinverter 120-3 are fixedly connected to the first power supply 140-1 andthe second power supply 140-2.

However, in this case, the processor 160 may identify a power supply tobe connected to the second inverter 120-2 based on all operation statesof the respective heating coils. That is, the processor 160 may identifya power supply to be connected to the second inverter 120-2 based on apower consumption of the plurality of heating coils 130-1, 130-2 and130-3, an input command, etc.

For example, the processor 160 may calculate a power consumption of eachof the plurality of heating coils 130-1, 130-2 and 130-3, and based onthe power consumption, identify a power supply to be connected to theplurality of inverters 120-1, 120-2 and 120-3 from among the first powersupply 140-1 or the second power supply 140-2.

For example, when a power consumption of the first heating coil 130-1 is3 kW and a power consumption of the third heating coil 130-3 is 1.2 kW,the processor 160 may identify that the second power supply 140-2 isconnected to the second inverter 120-2.

In contrast, when a power consumption of the first heating coil 130-1 is1.2 kW and a power consumption of the third heating coil 130-3 is 3 kW,the processor 160 may identify that the first power supply 140-1 isconnected to the second inverter 120-2.

The example described above may correspond to a case in which theprocessor 160 compares a power consumed by the first heating coil 130-1with a power consumed by the third heating coil 130-3 and identifieswhich heating coil uses less power, and identifies that a power suppliedto an inverter corresponding to the corresponding heating coil issupplied to the second inverter 120-2 corresponding to the secondheating coil 130-2.

Meanwhile, while the first heating coil 130-1 and the third heating coil130-3 are not operated and a power consumption is 0 kW, when a commandfor driving the second heating coil 130-2 is input, no power consumptionis available to identify the power source. Thus, the processor 160 mayidentify that the first power supply 140-1 or the second power supply140-2 is used according to a preset default value.

Meanwhile, when a use command of the first heating coil 130-1 or thethird heating coil 130-3 is changed and a heating coil consuming lesspower is changed, the processor 160 may identify that a power supplyconnected to an inverter corresponding to the changed heating coil issupplied to the second inverter 120-2.

For example, when a power consumption of the first heating coil 130-1 is230 V×3 A=690 W and a power consumption of the third heating coil 130-3is 230 V×13 A=2990 W, but a command with respect to the first heatingcoil 130-1 is changed and the power consumption is increased to 230 V×15A=3450 W, the processor 160 may identify that the second power supply140-2 supplies the power to the third heating coil 130-3, which isconsuming less power (2990 W) than is supplied to the second inverter120-2.

The processor 160 may, when a power supply to be connected to the secondinverter 120-2 is identified as described above, control the switchingcircuit 110′ so that the power supply is connected to the secondinverter 120-2. For example, when it is identified that the first powersupply 140-1 is connected to and supplies power to the second inverter120-2, the processor 160 may, control the switching circuit 110′ toprovide power from the first power supply 140-1 to the second inverter120-2.

In addition, when the heating coil that is consuming less powerdescribed above and changes and a power supply to be connected to thesecond inverter 120-2 changes, the processor 160 may control theswitching circuit 110′ to turn off a previous power supply provided tothe second inverter 120-2, and then to provide a power supply providedto an inverter corresponding to the changed heating coil to the secondinverter 120-2.

For example, when a power supply provided to the second inverter 120-2changes from the first power supply 140-1 to the second power supply140-2, the processor 160 may control the switching circuit 110′ todisconnect from the first power supply 140-1, and then connect thesecond power supply 140-2 to the second inverter 120-2.

In addition, the processor 160 may control the switching circuit 110′ todisconnect a previous power supply from the second inverter 120-2, andthen, after a preset time elapses, connect a power supply to an invertercorresponding to the changed heating coil to the second inverter 120-2.

Here, a preset time may correspond to a discharge time of a capacitorwithin an apparatus due to a switching operation, which may beidentified based on experimentation.

For example, the processor 160 may control the switching circuit 110′ todisconnect the first power supply 140-1 from the second inverter 120-2,and after a time of approximately 15 ms elapses, to connect the secondpower supply 140-2 to the second inverter 120-2.

In FIG. 3, two inverters acquire input of a fixed power supply. However,in an example implementation, a single inverter may acquire input of afixed power supply.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example cooking apparatus includinga plurality of burners according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, the cooking apparatus 100′ may include threecircular burners and a flexible burner including four areas.

In the circular burner, when a command is input from the user, a heatingoperation may be performed for the entire area of the circular burner.However, for the flexible burner, when a command is input from the user,a heating operation is performed only on an area of the flexible burnerwhere a cooking container is seated.

For example, when a cooking container is seated on three areas of theflexible burner, a heating operation is performed only on the threeareas where the cooking container is located.

The respective circular burners and the respective areas of the flexibleburner of the cooking apparatus 100′ may include one heating coil. Inaddition, the cooking apparatus 100′ may include an inverter providing adriving power to a heating coil of the respective circular burners, andan inverter providing a driving power to two heating coils of theflexible burner. An explanation of the heating coil will be discussedbelow with reference to FIG. 5.

Accordingly, the cooking apparatus 100′ may include three inverterscorresponding to the three circular burners, and two inverterscorresponding to the flexible burner, and thus, a total of fiveinverters. In this case, when the plurality of power supplies 140-1 and140-2 are input to the cooking apparatus 100′, it is necessary toprovide a power supply to the five inverters with a total power of 7360W (230 V×16 A×2=7360 W).

Accordingly, it is necessary to implement an operation demanded by theuser with a limited power and thus, the power supply must be efficientlyused.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of the example cooking apparatus in FIG. 4according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, the cooking apparatus 100′ may include threeprinted circuit boards (PBAs) 520-1, 520-2 and 520-3, a plurality ofpower supplies 140-1 and 140-2, and a switching circuit 110′.

The respective PBAs 520-1, 520-2 and 520-3 may include a bridge diode540-1, 540-2 and 540-3 to rectify an input power source (i.e., convertalternating current to direct current), and inverters 510-1, 510-2,510-3, 510-4 and 510-5. The PBA 1 520-1 may include a first inverter530-1 and a second inverter 530-2. The PBA 2 520-2 may include a thirdinverter 530-3. The PBA 3 520-3 may include a fourth inverter 530-4 anda fifth inverter 530-5.

The first inverter 530-1 may provide a driving power to two heatingcoils 510-1 and 510-2, the second inverter 530-2 may provide a drivingpower to two heating coils 510-3 and 510-4, the third inverter 530-3 mayprovide a driving power to one heating coil 510-5, the fourth inverter530-4 may provide a driving power to one heating coil 510-6, and thefifth inverter 530-5 may provide a driving power to one heating coil510-7.

The PBA 1 520-1 may acquire a fixed power supply from the second powersupply 140-2. The PBA 3 520-3 may acquire a fixed power supply from thefirst power supply 140-1. PBA 2 520-2 may selectively acquire a powersupply from the first power supply 140-1 or the second power supply140-2 via the switching circuit 110′.

Accordingly, the respective inverters 530-1, 530-2, 530-3, 530-4 and530-5 may provide a driving power to a corresponding heating coil byusing a power supply provided to a PBA.

The switching circuit 110′ may include switches 110′-1 and 110′-2, whichare disposed between a voltage line L of the plurality of power supplies140-1 and 140-2 and one terminal of the PBA 2 520-2. In addition, theswitching circuit 110′ may include switches 110′-3 and 110′-4, which aredisposed between a neutral line N of the plurality of power supplies140-1 and 140-2 and one terminal of the PBA 2 520-2.

The switching circuit 110′ may perform a switching operation using theswitches 110′-1 and 110′-2 connected to the voltage line L and theswitches 110′-3 and 110′-4 connected to the neutral line N.

For example, when the switches 110′-1 and 110′-3 connected to thevoltage line L and center line N of the first power supply 140-1 areclosed and the switches 110′-2 and 110′-4 connected to the voltage lineL and center line N of the second power supply 140-2 are opened, thefirst power supply 140-1 may be connected to the PBA 2 520-2. When theswitches 110′-1 and 110′-3 are opened and the switches 110′-2 and 110′-4are closed, the second power supply 140-2 may be connected to the PBA 2520-2.

In addition, the switching circuit 110′ may, rather than including theswitches 110′-3 and 110′-4 in the neutral line N, connect one terminalof the PBA 2 520-2 to the neutral line N, and perform a switchingoperation using the switches 110′-1 and 110′-2.

For example, in a case that the switch 110′-1 is closed and the switch110′-2 is opened, the first power supply 140-1 may be connected to thePBA 2 520-2. When the switch 110′-1 is opened and the switch 110′-2 isclosed, the second power supply 140-2 may be connected to the PBA 2520-2.

The respective PBAs 520-1, 520-2 and 520-3 may include a rectifiercircuit to rectify a power input to the respective PBAs, a smoothingcircuit to substantially convert the rectified power supply to a directcurrent, and an inverter providing a driving power of a preset frequencyusing the direct current. In this example, the rectifier circuit mayinclude bridge diodes 540-1, 540-2 and 540-3, and the respective bridgediodes 540-1, 540-2 and 540-3 may correspond to a bridge diode of abidirectional relay type.

The switching circuit 110′ is a first substrate including the thirdinverter 530-3, which is disposed on a separate second substrate andspaced apart from the PBA 2 520-2. However, the switching circuit 110′is combined into the PBA 2 520-2.

Meanwhile, a structure as in the switching circuit 110′ of FIG. 5 mayflexibly cope with both a case of using the switching circuit 110′ and acase of not using the switching circuit 110′ when the cooking apparatus100′ is designed.

FIG. 6 is another circuit diagram of the example cooking apparatus inFIG. 4 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6, a circuit configuration of the cooking apparatus100′ may include a plurality of fan motors 610-1 and 610-2, anelectromagnetic interference (EMI) filter 620, a switching mode powersupply (SMPS) 630, a plurality of PBAs 520-1, 520-2 and 520-3, and aplurality of switches 110′-1, 110′-2, 110′-3 and 110′-4.

Operations of the plurality of PBAs 520-1, 520-2 and 520-3 and theswitching circuit 110′ have been described above in connection with theoperations of FIG. 5, and thus detailed descriptions thereof areomitted.

The fan motor 610-1 and 610-2 may perform cooling of a heat sink (notillustrated) that is attached to at least one of PBAs 520-1, 520-2 and520-3.

The SNIPS 630 may convert one of the first power supply or the secondpower supply into a direct current (DC) power supply.

The EMI filter 620 may include a transformer and a capacitor and mayremove noise mixed in a power supplied from the plurality of powersupplies 140-1 and 140-2. In addition, the two power supplies 140-1 and140-2 input to the EMI filter 620 may be connected to supply power tothe respective PBAs.

For example, the PBA 1 520-1 may acquire a fixed power from the secondpower supply 140-2. The PBA 3 may acquire a fixed power from the firstpower supply 140-1. The PBA 2 may selectively acquire power from thefirst power supply 140-1 or the second power supply 140-2 via theswitching circuit 110′.

In FIG. 6, fan motors 610-1 and 610-2 are included. However, in anexample embodiment, a single fan may be included three or more fanmotors may be provided.

Referring to FIG. 6, the switching circuit 110′ is combined into the PBA2 520-2. However, the switching circuit 110′ may be disposed on a firstsubstrate including the third inverter 530-3 and spaced apart from thePBA 2 520-2.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling of a cookingapparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 7, it is presumed that a cooking apparatus acquiresinput of a plurality of power supplies of different phases.

First, a power supply may be identified to be connected to a pluralityof inverters individually providing a driving power to each of aplurality of heating coils at operation S710.

Here, a method for identifying a power supply to be provided to theplurality of inverters may be a method of identifying from among a firstpower supply or a second power supply based on a power consumption ofeach of the plurality of heating coils.

For example, when a power consumption of the first heating coil is 3 kW,a power consumption of the second heating coil is 1.2 kW, and a powerconsumption of the third heating coil is 0.8 kW, it may be identifiedthat the first power supply is connected to the first inverter and thatthe second power supply is connected to both the second inverter and thethird inverter.

In addition, prior to identifying of a power supply to be connected tothe plurality of inverters, a command for each of the plurality ofheating coils may be acquired, and then, a power supply to be connectedto each of the plurality of inverters may be identified so that adriving power may be provided to each of the plurality of heating coils.

For example, a command requires a strong output with respect to thefirst heating coil, a command requires an intermediate output withrespect to the second heating coil, and a command requires a smalloutput with respect to the third heating coil. In this case, it may beidentified that the first power supply is connected to the first heatingcoil, and that the second power supply is connected to both the secondheating coil and the third heating coil.

In addition, after a command is input, a method identifies a powersupply to be connected to the plurality of inverters, identifies when ause command of the second heating coil is input while the first powersupply is provided to the first inverter corresponding to the firstheating coil from among the plurality of heating coils, and connects thesecond power supply to the second inverter corresponding to the secondheating coil.

For example, it may be identified that, while the first heating coilperforms a heating operation using a power provided from the first powersupply, when a turn-on command and a specific output level command forthe second heating coil is input, the second power supply, which is notcurrently providing power, is connected to the second heating coil tosupply drive power.

In addition, a method may identify that, while the first power supply isconnected to the first inverter corresponding to the first heating coiland the second power supply is connected to the second invertercorresponding to the second heating coil, when a use command of thethird heating coil is input, a power supply connected to an invertercorresponding to a heating coil consuming a lower power consumptionamount from coil is provided to the third inverter corresponding to thethird heating coil.

For example, when a power consumption of the first heating coil is 230V×13 A=2990 W and a power consumption of the second heating coil is 230V×3 A=690 W, it may be identified that the second power supply suppliespower to the second heating coil, which is consuming less power (690 W)than is provided to the third inverter.

In addition, when a use command of the first heating coil or the secondheating coil is changed and a heating coil that is consuming less powerchanges, the method identify that a power supply connected to aninverter corresponding to the changed heating coil.

For example, when a power consumption of the first heating coil is 230V×3 A=690 W and a power consumption of the second heating coil is 230V×13 A=2990 W, but a command with respect to the first heating coilincreases the power consumption to 230 V×15 A=3450 W, it may beidentified that the second power supply supplies the power to the secondheating coil, which is consuming less power (2990 W) than is provided tothe third inverter.

In addition, the identified power supply may be provided to each of theplurality of inverters, at operation S720.

In this case, a method for providing a power supply identified when theheating coil consuming less power described above is changed maydisconnect a previous power supply from to the third inverter, and thenconnect a power supply to the third inverter corresponding to thechanged heating coil.

For example, the previous power supply may be disconnected from thethird inverter, and after a preset time elapses, the power supply may beprovided to the third inverter corresponding to the changed heatingcoil. Here, the preset time may be 15 ms, as described above withreference to FIG. 3.

In addition, a driving power may be generated and provided to each ofthe plurality of inverters, at operation S730. The respective invertersmay provide a driving power necessary to heat the corresponding heatingcoil.

For example, the first inverter may provide a first driving power supplyto the corresponding first heating coil, and the second inverter mayprovide a second driving power supply to the corresponding secondheating coil.

Accordingly, a power consumption amount necessary for the respectiveheating coils may be identified and a power supply is selectivelyprovided to at least one heating coil by using a switching circuit, sothat a cooking function may be improved despite the limited powersupply. The method for controlling of FIG. 7 may be performed on thecooking apparatus including the constitution of FIG. 1, 2 or 4, orperformed on another cooking apparatus including different constitution.

In addition, the above-described method for controlling may be realizedas at least one execution program to execute the above-describedcontrolling method, and such an execution program may be stored in anon-transitory computer readable medium.

A non-transitory computer readable medium may refer to amachine-readable medium or device that stores data semi-permanently andnot for a short period of time, such as a register, cache, memory, andthe like. Specifically, the above-mentioned various applications orprograms may be stored in a non-transitory readable medium such as acompact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), hard disk, Blu-raydisk, universal serial bus (USB) storage medium, memory card, and a readonly memory (ROM) and provided therein.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart provided to explain in further detail a powersupply identification operation of FIG. 7 according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 8, it may be assumed that an aspect of the method forcontrolling is a cooking apparatus 100′ provided with three PBAs 520-1,520-2 and 520-3. In addition, FIG. 8 may explain which power supply isto be used when the PBA 2 520-2 is operated while the PBA 1 520-1 andthe PBA 3 520-3 are operated. In addition, it may be assumed that thePBA 1 520-1 acquires a fixed power supply from the second power supply140-2, and that the PBA 3 520-3 acquires a fixed power supply from thefirst power supply 140-1.

First, a command for each heating coil may be identified at operationS810. A use command such as an output level with respect to therespective heating coils 510-1 to 510-7, and the like may be input fromthe user via the input apparatus 150.

In addition, it may be identified whether a current output of the firstpower supply exceeds 3.6 kW, at operation S820. In this case, the PBA 3520-3 acquires a fixed power supply from the first power supply andthus, when the PBA 2 520-2 is not operated, a power consumption of thePBA 3 520-3 may be calculated as an estimated power of the first powersupply.

If a current output of the first power supply does not exceed 3.6 kW atoperation S820, a switch position may be set to ON with respect to theswitches 110′-1 and 110′-3 connected to the first power supply, and toOFF with respect to the switches 110′-2 and 110′-4 with respect to thesecond power supply.

Here, 3.6 kW may correspond to identification criteria for selecting apower supply when a power consumption of each of a plurality of powersupplies to provide an appropriate power supply from among the pluralityof power supplies to a heating coil, and various values other than 3.6kW may be used as identification criteria according to an implementationmethod of the cooking apparatus 100′.

For example, when an output of the first power supply is 2.0 kW, poweris provided to the PBA 2 520-2 from the first power supply and thus, aswitch position may be set to ON with respect to the switches 110′-1 and110′-3, and to OFF with respect to the switches 110′-2 and 110′-4.

In contrast, when an output of the first power supply exceeds 3.6 kW atoperation S820, it may be identified that whether an output of thesecond power supply exceeds 3.6 kW, at operation S830. In this case, thePBA 1 520-1 acquires a fixed power supply from the second power supplyand thus, when the PBA 2 520-2 is not operated, a power consumption ofthe PBA 1 520-1 may be calculated as an output of the second powersupply.

If an output of the second power supply exceeds 3.6 kW at operationS830, a switch position may be set to ON with respect to the switches110′-1 and 110′-3 connected to the first power supply, and to OFF withrespect to the switches 110′-2 and 110′-4 with respect to the secondpower supply, at operation S850.

For example, when an output of the first power supply is 4.0 kW and anoutput of the second power supply is 4.0 kW, a power is provided to thePBA 2 520-2 from the first power supply and thus, a switch position maybe set to ON with respect to the switches 110′-1 and 110′-3, and to OFFwith respect to the switches 110′-2 and 110′-4.

In contrast, when an output of the second power supply does not exceed3.6 kW at operation S830, a switch position may be set to OFF withrespect to the switches 110′-1 and 110′-3, and to ON with respect to theswitches 110′-2 and 110′-4, at operation S840.

For example, when an output of the first power supply is 4.0 kW and anoutput of the second power supply is 2.0 kW, a power is supplied to thePBA 2 520-2 from the second power supply and thus, a switch position maybe set to OFF with respect to the switches 110′-1 and 110′-3, and to ONwith respect to the switches 110′-2 and 110′-4.

After a switch position is set at operations S840 and S850, a switchposition setting may be completed by the switching operation, atoperation S860, and an actual output for each burner may be finalizedbased on the switch position, at operation S870.

Accordingly, in a method for controlling of a cooking apparatus asdescribed herein, a power consumption amount necessary foralready-operating heating coils may be identified and a power supply isselectively provided to at least one heating coil by using a switchingcircuit, so that a cooking function may be improved despite the limitedpower supply. The method for controlling of FIG. 8 may be performed onthe cooking apparatus including the constitution of FIG. 1, 2 or 4, orperformed on another cooking apparatus including different constitution.

In addition, the above-described method for controlling may be realizedas at least one execution program to execute the above-describedcontrolling method, and such an execution program may be stored in anon-transitory computer readable medium.

The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and arenot to be construed as limiting the disclosure. The teaching can bereadily applied to other types of apparatuses. Also, the description ofthe embodiments of the disclosure is intended to be illustrative, andnot to limit the scope of the claims, and many alternatives,modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in theart.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference tovarious embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as definedby the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cooking apparatus acquiring input of aplurality of power supplies of different phases, the cooking apparatuscomprising: a plurality of heating coils including a first heating coiland a second heating coil; a plurality of inverters including a firstinverter and a second inverter; and a switching circuit configured toselectively provide power from among a first power or a second power toat least one of the first inverter or the second inverter.
 2. Thecooking apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a processor configuredto identify whether at least the first power or the second power isprovided to the first inverter or the second inverter based on a firstpower consumption of the first heating coil and a second powerconsumption of the second heating coil.
 3. The cooking apparatus ofclaim 1, further comprising: a plurality of power supplies including afirst power supply and a second power supply; an input device configuredto receive a first command for operation of the first heating coil and asecond command for operation of the second heating coil; and a processorconfigured to control the plurality of inverters to output a firstdriving power to the first heating coil based on the first command andoutput a second driving power to the second heating coil based on thesecond command.
 4. The cooking apparatus of claim 3, wherein theprocessor is further configured to, based on the second command of thesecond heating coil being received while the first power supply isconnected to the first inverter, control the switching circuit toconnect the second power supply to the second inverter, and wherein anoutput of the second inverter is connected to the second heating coil.5. The cooking apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: connect the first power supply to the first inverter,wherein an output of the first inverter is connected to the firstheating coil, when the second power supply is connected to the secondinverter and a third command of a third heating coil is received,identify that the first inverter is consuming less power than the secondheating coil, and control the switching circuit to connect the firstpower supply to a third inverter, wherein the third inverter has anoutput that is connected to the third heating coil.
 6. The cookingapparatus of claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to:receive a command to change power consumed by the first heating coil orthe second heating coil, identify that the first inverter is consumingmore power than the second heating coil, and control the switchingcircuit to connect the second power supply to the third inverter.
 7. Thecooking apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: based on the identification that the first inverter isconsuming more power than the second heating coil, control the switchingcircuit to disconnect a previous power supply from the third inverter.8. The cooking apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to, after a preset time elapses, connect a power supplyprovided to an inverter corresponding to the changed heating coil. 9.The cooking apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first inverter isconfigured to provide driving power to the first heating coil based ononly the first power, wherein the second inverter is configured toprovide driving power to the second heating coil based on only thesecond power, wherein the plurality of inverters further comprise athird inverter configured to provide a third driving power to a thirdheating coil based on the first power or the second power, and whereinthe switching circuit is configured to selectively connect the firstpower supply or the second power supply to the third inverter.
 10. Thecooking apparatus of claim 9, wherein the switching circuit comprises: afirst switch configured to connect an output terminal of the first powersupply or an output terminal of the second power supply to an inputterminal of the third inverter; and a second switch configured toconnect another output terminal of the first power supply or anotheroutput terminal of the second power supply to another input terminal ofthe third inverter.
 11. The cooking apparatus of claim 1, wherein eachof the plurality of inverters comprises: a bridge diode circuitconfigured to rectify input power; a circuit configured to substantiallyconvert the rectified input power into a direct current (DC) power; andan inverter circuit configured to provide a driving power supply havinga preset frequency based on the DC power.
 12. The cooking apparatus ofclaim 1, further comprising: a plurality of first substrates, whereineach of the plurality of inverters is disposed on the plurality of firstsubstrates; and a second substrate spaced apart from the plurality offirst substrates and including the switching circuit disposed thereon.13. A method for controlling of a cooking apparatus, the methodcomprising: identifying power to be provided to a plurality ofinverters, wherein each of the plurality of inverters individuallyprovide a driving power to a corresponding heating coil of a pluralityof heating coils; providing the power to each of the plurality ofinverters; generating the driving power for each of the plurality ofinverters; and providing the driving power to each of the plurality ofheating coils.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the identifying thepower comprises: identifying a first power is to be provided to theplurality of inverters based on a power consumption of each of theplurality of heating coils.
 15. The method for controlling of claim 13,further comprising: receiving command for each of the plurality ofheating coils, wherein the identifying the power comprises: identifyingthe power supply to be connected to each of the plurality of inverters,and providing the driving power to each of the plurality of heatingcoils based on the command.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein theidentifying the power comprises, based on a command of the secondheating coil being received while a first power is provided to a firstinverter, connecting a second power supply to a second inverter, whereinthe first inverter is connected to a first heating coil of the pluralityof heating coils, and wherein the second inverter is connected to asecond heating coil of the plurality of heating coils.
 17. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the identifying the power comprises: connecting afirst power supply to a first inverter; and when a second power isprovided to a second inverter and a command of a third heating coil isreceived, providing power provided to an inverter corresponding to aheating coil, which is consuming less power from among a first heatingcoil or a second heating coil, to a third inverter corresponding to thethird heating coil, wherein the first inverter is connected to a firstheating coil of the plurality of heating coils.
 18. The method of claim17, wherein the identifying the power comprises: when a command for thefirst heating coil or the second heating coil changes an amount of powerconsumption, providing a power provided to an inverter corresponding tothe changed heating coil to the third inverter.
 19. The method of claim18, wherein the providing the power provided to the inverter comprises:based on the heating coil consuming less power being changed,disconnecting a previous power supply from the third inverter; and afterthe previous power supply is disconnected, connecting a power supplyprovided to an inverter corresponding to the changed heating coil. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein the providing the power provided to theinverter comprises: turning off the previous power supply connected tothe third inverter; and after a preset time elapses, providing, to thethird inverter, a power provided to an inverter corresponding to thechanged heating coil.